pbmtoescp2

Pbmtoescp2 User Manual(0) Pbmtoescp2 User Manual(0)

NAME

pbmtoescp2 - convert a PBM image to a ESC/P2 printer file

SYNOPSIS

pbmtoescp2
[-compress=compressionmode] [-resolution=dpi]
[pbmfile]
All options can be abbreviated to their shortest unique prefix. You
may use two hyphens instead of one to designate an option. You may use
either white space or equals signs between an option name and its
value.
Input is read from file pbmfile if specified, otherwise from stdin.
Output is written to stdout.

DESCRIPTION

This program is part of Netpbm(1).
pbmtoescp2 reads a PBM image as input. It produces an ESC/P2 raster
graphic printer control stream as output.
This program creates an output that is printable on Epson printers
that understand the ESC/P2 printer control language (e.g. the Stylus
models). For older Epson 9-pin dot matrix printers, which use the
ESC/P protocol, see pbmtoepson.

OPTIONS

-compress=compressionmode
This determines the compression mode that pbmtoescp2 uses in its
output. Valid values for compressionmode are 0 and 1. -com-press=0 results in a printer control stream with uncompressed
raster graphic data. -compress=1 results in a printer control
stream with RLE compressed raster graphic data (RLE means Run
Length Encoding). The default is -compress=1.
-resolution=dpi
This determines the horizontal and the vertical print resolution
set in the printer control stream. Another way of looking at it
is a declaration of what the resolution of the input image is
(PBM images don’t have inherent resolution). Valid values for
dpi are 180 and 360. See hints for more information on this.
The default is -resolution=360.
RLE compresses very well bitmaps of line drawings, preferably horizon-
tal oriented contents like texts, sheets of music, etc. However,
bitmaps derived from photographs are not ideal for RLE. In extreme
cases, when no byte repetitions occur in the input, the result will be
even slightly bigger than the input. To avoid this, use compression
mode 0 to switch off RLE.
Each pixel in the input PBM image becomes one dot in the printed out-
put. Therefore, you must make sure the width and height of the input
are appropriate for the print resolution you choose and the print area
you want. E.g. if you print at 180 dpi and want the image to print as
8 inches by 10, you must supply a PBM that is 1440 pixels wide by 1800
pixels high. You can adjust the size of the input with pamscale, pam-stretch, pbmreduce, or pnmenlarge.